Social media is going abuzz about Shah Rukh Khan's tweet for his 'chota bhai' Riteish Deshmukh. Thanking the Ek Villain actor, Shah Rukh Khan tweeted, "@Riteishd jab chota bhai bahut bada ho jaata hai. Thank you baby for the love respect and largesse of heart you showed me today. Grateful. Touched. I am so happy to have ‘asked’ something of a friend who kept my self respect higher than his own need." While he doesn't mention the reason for his gratitude, it was pretty obvious to those who have been closely following any updates on Zero as to the reason why. Shah Rukh Khan is Very Thankful to 'Chota Bhai' Riteish Deshmukh and The Reason Has to Do With Zero!

Riteish's Marathi film, Mauli, was to release on the same date as Shah Rukh Khan's Zero, i.e. on December 21. Going by the hint in Shah Rukh Khan's tweet, it looks like Riteish must have pushed the release date of the film ahead, giving Zero a wide berth on its release day.

While Shah Rukh Khan's tweet reeks of humility and gratitude, many on social media are seeing it as a sign of desperation and weakness from the superstar. They are of the opinion that why Shah Rukh Khan, considered as one of the biggest superstars in Indian Cinema, need to thank someone for shifting the release date of a regional film. Primary among those looking down on SRK's tweet is Kamaal R Khan, the self-proclaimed critic and trade expert. Check out his tweets below -

The only film will affect business of #Zero is #Simmba n SRK can’t ask producer Karan Johar to not release it on next Friday. Instead SRK is asking Ritesh to not release his Marathi film #Mauli. Hindi and Marathi film audience is totally different, so it’s not going to help Zero.

For his last 4 films, SRK has done the same thing, that he requested others to postpone release of their films n still all his films are flop. This is the biggest problem of SRK today, that he doesn’t trust his own product n stardom, instead he is scared of other stars. Sad!

Producers of #Stree and #BadhaaiHo didn’t ask others to postpone release of their films and still both small films have done 100Cr+ business. It’s proof that a good film will become hit for sure with 10 other films also. But if the film is bad then it can’t become hit solo also.

We can see why people like KRK feels that it is weak on part of Shah Rukh Khan to bow down and thank Riteish. However, this is quite a two-dimensional view and they haven't looked at why this move from Ritesh was extremely important for Shah Rukh Khan. Here are five reasons why Shah Rukh Khan did the right thing in thanking Riteish for allowing Zero to have a complete monopoly on December 21. Bigg Boss 12: Shah Rukh Khan CONFIRMED to Come on Salman Khan's Reality Show to Promote Zero.

Zero Needs a Solo Release!

Zero is a big movie and is considered as one of the most expensive films Shah Rukh Khan has been a part of. Just like Aamir Khan's Thugs of Hindostan, it is clear that Shah Rukh Khan needs to capitalise on a big opening weekend to get enough collections and earn big. Considering that Ranveer Singh's Simmba is releasing a week after and it is a huge film, the first-week collections are very important for SRK and Zero. As for how a Marathi film can affect its collections, well, it is a fact that...

Mauli is Huge

While Riteish Deshmukh's box office draw in Bollywood may not be anywhere near Shah Rukh Khan's, he is a huge draw in Marathi cinema. The last Marathi film where he played the lead was the 2014 film Lai Bhaari and it was a blockbuster. There are high expectations from Mauli to follow the same path!

Also remember that Maharashtra, especially Mumbai, is a big market for Bollywood films. With a big Marathi film like Mauli coming out on the same day as Zero, you cannot ignore the fact that the former will take up many screens in the state.

Political Interference Avoided

Continuing on the previous point, when it comes to Shah Rukh, many political parties have a special interest in cashing in on his popularity and create troubles for his film. If Mauli and Zero would have clashed, Shiv Sena and Maharastra Navanirman Sena would have insisted on the Marathi film get more screens with the view of promoting regional cinema, which would have adversely affected Zero. By Riteish himself pushing the release date ahead, they have avoided that unnecessary political interference.

Learning From Past Mistakes

Shah Rukh Khan's films' collections have often been affected by past clashes. Even when he had the upper hand. His Om Shanti Om would have been Bollywood's first Rs 100 crore grosser, before Ghajini, if it had not clashed with Saawariya. We have seen how the collections of Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Raees were affected because they had released along with Son of Sardaar and Kaabil respectively. However, the biggest setback had been when Dilwale had clashed with Bajirao Mastani in 2015, and underperformed big time. This clash also kickstarted Shah Rukh Khan's pretty average streak at the box office, culminating with Jab Harry Met Sejal's debacle last year. Hence, it is important why Shah Rukh Khan need to have a clean release this time, considering the stakes are high! And of course, he knows it!

Being The Bigger Man (or Men) Here

It is quite obvious that Shah Rukh Khan is in need of a huge hit after the underperformance of his past few films. And he is quite aware of the fact that he doesn't have Aamir Khan and Salman Khan's current box office pull here. It's another matter that even Salman and Aamir can only make blockbusters out of masala entertainers, the underperformance of Tubelight and Secret Superstar at the domestic box office is a proof of that.

SRK and Riteish could have come to a compromise behind back doors and keep others completely oblivious of the fact that Mauli has been pushed ahead. However, by tweeting on a public platform, SRK has made sure that the world knows how big-hearted Riteish is and how grateful King Khan is with this not-so-small gesture of Riteish. In times where people are looking to pull down even their own friends, this gesture is much appreciated!